BLW has failed :(

SMask · October 2012

LO is 7 months and still doing nothing but gagging on his food. Daycare is working with us but ends up mashing up his food, adding breast milk, and spoon feeding him because they are scared he is going to choke. Are some babies just not meant to do BLW? I read the book... I just don't understand what I am doing wrong. He gags on everything.

danienross · October 2012

7mos is still super young. It's not about eating, it's about exploring at that age. As long as he recovers well from gagging I honestly wouldn't worry. I know that's easier said than done.

frlcb · October 2012

My dd gagged on everything til pretty much 9 months. There is a difference between gagging and choking. If he is just gagging keep at it, let him explore, and he will catch on.

SMask · October 2012

danienross:
7mos is still super young. It's not about eating, it's about exploring at that age. As long as he recovers well from gagging I honestly wouldn't worry. I know that's easier said than done.

I totally understand. Daycare feels like he needs to eat good or he'll starve. They can't get it through their heads that the bottles of breast milk is all he NEEDS. Maybe I will just send them purees. He does okay at home with slippery stuff like eggs and noodles and pears... but still gags and recovers well.

Thanks! I guess I am trying to treat him older than he is.

Temp123197812503460 · October 2012

It's also not an all or nothing thing, my kids desperately wanted to be spoon fed, so we did that as well as offering food for them to self feed.We just followed their cues and stopped the spoon as soon as they were indicating they were full or not interested anymore.

ncbelle · October 2012

Honestly, I don't know that I'd feel comfortable having providers who were unfamiliar with BLW and skittish with it feeding my child that way - and I'm a HUGE BLW fan. It's still 100% normal for him to gag and 100% normal for him to eat little or nothing.

Maybe just continue what you are doing at home and send purees to daycare. Does he have to have purees at daycare? Not sure on the timing of when he is there and what they have to do legally but many babies aren't on 3 meals a day at 7 months so in theory you could just do solids at home for the next month or two.

Jena503 · October 2012

My advice is don't push it, let it go. IMO, the important part about BLW is that it's LED by baby. I'd rather my kids eat purees that they WANT to eat than to try to get them to do something they don't want to do. Your kid isn't ready or doesn't like it or whatever. So back off. Give him a little time.

My kid wanted nothing to do with food at 6mo - of any size, shape or consistency. At 7mo he kinda did ok with purees. Sorta. But not a fan. We didn't push it.
At 8mo he was stealing chicken from DD's plate (a chickfila nugget, no less. Not my best mommy moment, but he had eaten quite a bit before I ever saw.)
At 10mo he as on table food.

It was his own crazy schedule and what he was ready for. I guess he forgot to read the book. Darn kid Wink

SMask · October 2012

ncbelle:
Honestly, I don't know that I'd feel comfortable having providers who were unfamiliar with BLW and skittish with it feeding my child that way - and I'm a HUGE BLW fan. It's still 100% normal for him to gag and 100% normal for him to eat little or nothing.
Maybe just continue what you are doing at home and send purees to daycare. Does he have to have purees at daycare? Not sure on the timing of when he is there and what they have to do legally but many babies aren't on 3 meals a day at 7 months so in theory you could just do solids at home for the next month or two.

He is at DC 715-430 or so. I tried this and DC freaked out and really wants him to have a "lunch". I guess I could just put my foot down and not send anything, or just send a little puree food to make them happy. I just hope they aren't force feeding LO... they say he loves it. I've never spoon fed him so I wouldn't know.

ETA: I agree with your comment about "uneducated BLW providers" but his teachers do BLW with their own personal children... 2 of the 4 of them anyway.

jcsumm0 · October 2012

I think it sounds like he just isn't ready for solids at all. Babies reach solid readiness at their own pace, just like any other developmental milestone.

rmwt001 · October 2012

A previous posters said, there is a big difference between gagging and chocking and 7 months is super young. DD is 21 months old now, but she didn't really "get it" until she was about 8 months. Having said that, I did not send food to daycare until she "got it" to avoid the problem. They weren't thrilled since they were on the "she needs food" train, but in the end they got on board because they saw what a great eater she became. Ultimately they started recommending BLW to other families. I would give your LO more time and if possible, avoid sending food to Daycare until he/she is really ready - it's all practice anyway until they are a year. I have a friend who did BLW whose kid didn't start eating until they were 11 months! GL

CurbsideProphet · October 2012

Gagging is completely normal and I would not consider that a failure. It sounds like LO is just learning. I would ask daycare to stop spoon feeding him, but I also don't think he needs any solids at this point.

nosoup4u · October 2012

ncbelle:
Honestly, I don't know that I'd feel comfortable having providers who were unfamiliar with BLW and skittish with it feeding my child that way - and I'm a HUGE BLW fan. It's still 100% normal for him to gag and 100% normal for him to eat little or nothing.
Maybe just continue what you are doing at home and send purees to daycare. Does he have to have purees at daycare? Not sure on the timing of when he is there and what they have to do legally but many babies aren't on 3 meals a day at 7 months so in theory you could just do solids at home for the next month or two.

This exactly. I would either do the purees only, or not send anything.

Izybel18 · October 2012

Another important component (from the book anyway) is to have baby eat with you. That way they can watch and learn as well. DD doesn't go to DC but I think if she did, I would not send food at all and just do BLW at home during breakfast and dinner. There are a lot of days where we get busy or DD is napping while we're eating, so she doesn't get solids at all. I find it very comforting knowing that BM is all she needs anyway

Angela814 · October 2012

I personally wouldn't send any food to daycare. We did BLW with DD2, and I didn't send food to daycare until she was eating everything with no problems. She was probably 10 months at the time. At 7 months we were just starting out. She had dinner with us, sometimes breakfast in the morning, and all meals on weekends. I don't think she ate much of anything for at least a month.

Ilovepjs · October 2012

What is BLW?

tjkdlhb · October 2012

Ilovepjs:
What is BLW?

Baby Led Weaning. It's a method of introducing solids to babies.

https://www.babyledweaning.com/

Tigger & pooh · October 2012

Just an additional thought here. My son really didn't starting eating solids until almost a year and even then he had trouble getting certain foods down. The problem was not only him not being interested but he had enlarged tonsils blocking his airway. Just before three we had them removed, best decision ever! So I guess I am saying let her be she might not be ready but check her tonsils too! :

sequoiasky · October 2012

We did BLW and it took my son 3-4 months to actually eat. He gagged and even vomited almost daily (but it didn't bother him at all, he just kept trying). One day, around 10 months it kicked in and he eats like a champ now. We also did purees at times, but he was happy with just milk!

terri_doula2010 · October 2012

DS didn't even start ingesting stuff til 7mo (BLW). Midway through that month MiL watched him and gave him a lot of purees and he really liked that, so after that we gave him some of each type of food. No big deal.

We started with 1 meal a day, then slooowly moved to 2 meals a day. Probably by 8 months? Until about 10 months it was still rather inconsistent and sometime he'd get breakfast and dinner, sometimes breakfast and lunch...sometimes just dinner. Occasionally he'd skip solid meals altogether and it would be just fine. At that age they don't *NEED* any solids, ever. It is just when we currently think is best to start.

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